Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2022
713. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total amount of funds allocated to each local authority under the local authority marine infrastructure scheme 2022-2023 since the formation of the current Government by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60259/22]
View answerThe Deputy may be aware that last January I announced the roll-out of the €35m Brexit Adjustment: Local Authority Marine Infrastructure Scheme 2022-2023. The BALAMI Scheme was one of the recommendations of the Seafood Sector Taskforce which I established following Brexit. This scheme is proposed to be funded in the main from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR).
In April this year, after the first call of the Scheme, I approved €31.7m in funding for 110 projects around the Irish coast. Details of the funding allocated in tablular form is available online at gov.ie
- McConalogue announces approval of €31.7 million Brexit investment in Public Marine Infrastructure (www.gov.ie)
The second call of the Scheme closed at the end of September. In view of the large volume of applications submitted I asked my Department to examine the scope to increase the BAR funding available for the scheme. I hope to make an announcement on this in the coming days.
In the meantime, the projects already approved for funding will be delivered by the local authorities concerned. My Department will reimburse eligible project costs (pro-rata) on a matured liability basis following inspection of the capital works and verification of the evidenced expenditure. Funding from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve must be availed of before the end of 2023. A number of terms and conditions must be met for projects under the Scheme, including pre and post inspections and evidence of costs incurred.
I must stress that responsibility for the development and maintenance of Local Authority owned piers, harbours and slipways rests with each Local Authority in the first instance. I am also mindful that the primary governance role for local authorities rests with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and any wider funding issues for local authorities should be addressed to that Minister.
